The Crest Of Origin 2
by SiegeCAYNE
Summary: Taichi and the gang are back with a new adventure. After the events with Origin, Taichi had been doing a lot of research work on his own. When things start turning for the worse in the real world, it's up to them and some new found friends to stop it before anything worse would happen. Secrets will be revealed as they march on to a new adventure.
1. Chapter 1

THE CREST OF ORIGIN PART 2

Author's Notes: Welcome back! I wanted to write this as soon as possible because I just can't let it stay in my pc rotting for months. It's not fully fleshed out yet but what I wanted to do was create a way that the chapter could produce answers to some minor issues from The Crest of Origin. Plus, I added something just to make it a little bit more comical (I apologize if that's not what you were expecting from it). I tried my best and I hope you guys like it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon.

CHAPTER 1

Hikari laid there on her bed thinking of what she saw that evening.

 _'Origin's crest,'_ she thought. _'What's Taichi hiding from us?'_

There was a knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she said.

"It's Taichi. Listen, I have soccer practice today. Mom and Dad are out so stay safe okay?"

"Okay!" she replied. Taichi started walking away from her bedroom door. The moment she heard their main door close, she grabbed her laptop and emailed Koushiro.

 _To: Koushiro_

 _Koushiro I have some news. Origin's crest is back and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. Please email me as soon as possible._

A few minutes later, she heard the doorbell ring. She opened it only to find that not only was Koushiro there, but also Sora, Yamato, Takeru and Jou.

"I contacted Yamato and he said the three of them were available. I bumped into Jou as I was heading towards your apartment." he said.

"I had some spare time so I thought why not." Jou scratched his head.

When they were comfortably seated, Hikari told them what happened the other night. They listened to her story and when she finished, Sora was the first to speak.

"What do you think it means? I remember when we got back home from the digital world his crest vanished."

"And he never really wore the wristband a lot after that." Yamato said thinking about those times he actually got to see Taichi around school.

"But… maybe you were just seeing things Hikari?" Takeru said. Hikari looked at him in disbelief but still asked why would he think of that politely.

"After all that happened in the digital world, I don't think it's just Taichi who's had the trouble of coping. Maybe, we also still haven't let the situation sink in that much."

Hikari looked away. It was true that the events that have transpired during those times weren't the most pleasant she had ever experienced but they had worse. Thinking that Takeru wasn't starting to believe in her story she tried to defend herself.

"We witnessed things worse than this. I saw the dark ocean, we battled with so many enemies, we had struggles as well… why would this be anything different?"

"It is… considering we saw Taichi die twice." Takeru replied. Hikari twitched and didn't say anything.

"H-hey now… we shouldn't really talk about this unless we're all together." Sora said trying to keep the two from starting a fight.

That was when they noticed that the main door had been open the whole time and that someone just closed it. They all turned their heads only to see a stoic looking Taichi enter the living room.

"Taichi!" Hikari yelped as she stood up and looked at her brother. "I thought you had soccer practice?"

"Practice was cancelled…"

"I-is that so?" Hikari said in an embarrassed yet nervous tone.

"Why are you all so keen on talking about me without my knowledge of it?" Taichi asked. Yamato was the first one to speak.

"It's not like that… we just heard from Hikari that you had-" Yamato was cut off by Hikari.

"Origin's crest… you still have it. I saw Taichi."

He sighed and looked at everyone.

"I'm planning the meeting now. Let's meet up next week… all of us. And Hikari," he raised his left hand to reveal a clean pulse area that suddenly glowed and traced Origin's crest before it vanished again. "You're right."

He went inside his room and locked the door. The others were left in the living room with baffled faces.

The next few days were filled with mixed feelings. Hikari and Takeru were with each other as they started asking Daisuke and the other digidestineds if their available.

"Did something happen?" Daisuke asked.

"Not really. Taichi wanted all of us to meet next Sunday." Hikari said.

"If it's Taichi then count me in! I still have a lot of questions to ask him. Should I call Ken too?" He said smiling at them.

Hikari nodded and thanked Daisuke. After they finished, Takeru and Hikari walked home together.

"Listen… Hikari about yesterday."

"hmm?"

"I'm really sorry for talking to you like that."

"Takeru…" she turned to look at him. Hikari was holding her bicycle as they spoke.

"You just seemed to down… I shouldn't have said something like that." he showed try guilt on his expression. Hikari smiled at Takeru as she held his hands.

"Hey, it's okay. I was a little in the wrong too. Guess we're even." her sweet smile made Takeru smile back.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Hikari said as she rode her bicycle towards the other direction away from where Takeru was. Takeru waved goodbye before walking home.

"Taichi…" spoke Yamato.

"I wonder if he's angry at us?" Sora asked. She and Yamato were in a café eating cake slices.

"Of course he is!" Yamato said raising his voice. Sora just looked at Yamato.

"Ah… sorry about that." he bowed his head as a form of apology.

"It's okay, nothing to worry about. I'm happy he's planning on discussing with us though," she sipped some of her soda and continued speaking. "I kind of missed talking to him."

"The same goes for me. Usually he'd be in the cafeteria annoying me but he never does that anymore." Yamato said.

"hmmm?" Sora looked at her boyfriend with a cheeky grin as he drank some water. "Does that mean you actually liked getting annoyed by Taichi?"

Yamato stopped drinking midway and started choking. When he got his composure back, he looked at Sora who was stifling a grin.

"Where did that come from?" Yamato looked at his girlfriend annoyingly but stopped when he realized that… she was right.

After their class the next day, Yamato walked to Taichi before he could leave the classroom.

"We need to talk." He said. Taichi just continued placing his notebook inside his bag.

"We can talk during the weekend…" he stood up only to get stopped by Yamato once more. They looked at each other; one annoyingly while the other a tad bit more stern.

"I can't wait for the weekend. Taichi, you need to stop acting like this." Everyone had left the room by then. It was only Taichi and Yamato inside.

"It never bothered you when you can do it whenever you had the chance didn't it?" Yamato's eye twitched as he backed away. That was the time a soccer mate of Taichi walked in on their conversation.

"Yo, captain! The coach wants to practice a little early today. Think you can come?"

"Yeah sure. Let me just get my things before I go there."

Taichi stood up completely ignoring the blonde boy behind him and closed the classroom door. Yamato stood there as if unable to move. He didn't know whether he was angry at Taichi or annoyed at how his friend now acted. It was only for a couple more days… he can't wait that long; but he knows it's the only way to finally get the answers to the questions he's had ever since the event with Origin ended. With that, he walked out of the classroom and headed straight for the cafeteria.

During their practice, Taichi hadn't been fully aware of what happened.

"Oh boss!" said one of his team mates.

"What is it?" Taichi said.

"Something bothering you?"

"Not really, why?"

"That boy you were with earlier, he was a friend right? Why do you seem like you don't want to talk to him?"

Taichi gulped down his water and spoke.

"It's not really something I like talking about. Shall we continue?" said Taichi who ran towards the field once more. The person then got a phone call from a classmate.

"Koushiro? Oh yeah… no… he doesn't seem to want to talk about it."

"I see… well thanks for trying anyways." Koushiro was about to hang out when the guy on the other line spoke.

"I think he knew the moment I spoke about it. I respect Taichi very much Koushiro and," he took a deep breath. "From what I've seen, he doesn't seem to be angry…" he then hung up.

The next few days were uneventful and then time came that they would all meet up. They all met at a park near Taichi's school. He was already there with Hikari when they arrived.

"Taichi!" Daisuke waved at him. Taichi waved back.

When they were all collected in front of the swings, Taichi took a long deep breath and said, "First thing's first, I'm sorry…"

"Taichi…" Yamato said.

"I know I've been distant these past few weeks and I am truly sorry for how I acted to everyone…"

"It's okay Taichi… we kind of thought you were not talking to us because of Origin. We should apologize too." Sora said.

Daisuke nodded, "We really didn't think that you were being cold towards us…"

Taichi looks at Yamato who had a smug look on his face.

"Oh no… don't look at me like that Taichi," he said. "I'm pissed yeah but I know you have your reasons… besides… we really were at fault here too." Yamao said and smiled.

"We just wanted to know if you're okay." Hikari said. Taichi looked at everyone with a guilty face. He remembered the last discussion they had before he got pierced in the heart. _They had those same faces…_ he thought.

He nodded to all of them and cleared his throat.

"Okay… I guess it's time to answer the questions you've had for a month so… let me have it." Taichi said as he looked at everyone. Hikari was the first one to talk and said, "Why do you still have Origin's crest?"

Taichi moved his left hand towards everyone and showed his pulse area. Origin's crest glowed the same and then vanished instantly.

"Origin gave it to me. Something like a final gift." Taichi said.

"Does it have something special about it?" Koushiro asked.

"Now that you mentioned it… I never really thought that it had any special abilities. Except that I could control its visibility."

"Hmm… maybe we could try it out."

"Well maybe not today Koushiro." Miyako said.

"Any who… Taichi, what were you doing for the past month?" Yamato asked.

Taichi looked at him seriously. Yamato knew it was something he had not been meaning to talk about any time soon but now, Taichi should finally have to talk about it.

"I was looking for people." Taichi said.

"People? What do you mean people?" Iori and Ken asked at the same time.

"The Original Digidestineds."

Everyone gasped. The last time they ever discussed the Original Digidestineds was with Gennai. They never really asked him about who they were or what they were like. The one's who knew Taichi before he died… Hikari wanted to know more.

"Did you find them Taichi?" she asked. Taichi shook his head and looked at the swing.

"I travelled around Japan for a whole month before I gave up."

"Did they tell you where they lived?" Daisuke asked and Taichi nodded.

"I remember they told me where they lived but I guess it's been 9 years after all since I met them."

Everyone fell silent. Wind swept around them followed by the motion of the trees. Then Koushiro got an idea.

"I can't believe I haven't thought of this!" Koushiro took out his laptop and started typing. Taichi looked at Koushiro curiously when he saw Daisuke eyeing him.

"Did I do something wrong Daisuke?" he asked.

"No… but… I was thinking that… err… since you played soccer with us before you might want to again? I just thought that you were really happy back then and… uhh…" Daisuke didn't seem to want to finish the sentence but everyone knew what was on his mind. Taichi looked at Daisuke and messed up his hair.

"Sure, why not? It was a fun game and I bet you two trained even harder than before." He let out a grin that made everyone, especially Daisuke, happy.

"Aha!" Koushiro cheered. He walked towards Taichi and showed him his computer screen. Taichi gasped.

"It's a tracking program I created a few days ago. It can find out the locations of different digidestineds located in Japan. I didn't have the chance to test it out yet so I thought this would be the best time!" Taichi beamed with excitement.

"Koushiro this is brilliant!" he yelled. Everyone walked towards the laptop to observe as Koushiro explained how it worked.

"I could test it out right now before we start finding your friends Taichi."

"How?" Hikari asked.

"Well, if you search Taichi Yagami on the server, then anyone with that name that has been connected to the digiworld will appear here. Like this…" Koushiro started typing on his computer and in an instant, an orange dot appeared in the exact location where Taichi was at that moment.

"Brilliant Koushiro!" Jou said as he jumped for joy. But his phone started ringing and he checked it out.

"Hello? Uh-huh… EH!? Okay, Okay!" Jou hung up.

"Something wrong Jou?" Iori asked walking towards the oldest among all of them.

"Looks like I have to go to my cram school later. I guess I won't be able to continue this chat."

"It's okay, we understand. We should be heading home soon too anyways." Sora said.

"Really sorry." Jou replied.

"Ah… has anyone seen Mimi?" Taichi asked. Everyone but Hikari looked at each other.

"Mimi? Didn't she return to America after summer break?" Miyako replied.

"I wish she did… but her father is going to work here for two years so she's going to be staying with them in their new apartment." Taichi said as he held his neck.

"Oh yeah that always annoyed me, I never really knew where Mimi stayed during summer." Sora said.

"Now that you mention it, she never really said anything. Did she get her own apartment?" Jou replied.

"No that wouldn't be good considering she's only here for two months." Yamato said.

"Then where did she stay?" Koushiro asked.

"Oh didn't I tell you guys?" Taichi said as Hikari was stifling a grin. "She was living at our home during the summer."

The silence returned once more.

"H-h-h-hold on T-t-taichi… D-did I hear y-you correctly? D-did you j-j-just say that M-m-m-mimi was staying in with y-y-you?" Jou said faintly as he slowly walked towards Taichi and held him by the shoulders.

"Yeah… was that bad?" he said casually.

"What's wrong with that? She had no place to stay in so I let her live with us."

"Taichi…" Jou said, still holding Taichi's shoulders. "Do you mean to say that Mimi actually agreed to this?"

"Yeah…" Jou seemed to grow weaker by the second.

"What's with the face Jou!?" Taichi said looking a little terrified.

"A lady… you just let a lady sleep in your home."

Taichi tilted his head and then had a thought.

"Oh it's okay Jou, she was sleeping in Hikari's room."

Jou's face turned red as steam started coming out from his nose. Yamato and the others were still shocked but chuckled at what Taichi said.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT TAICHI!"

"Oh? I come late and you're already talking about me?" Mimi said as she walked towards them. Sora smiled as she ran towards her.

"Mimi!" Sora said as she hugged her. Jou, now looking more like a zombie, turned to look at Mimi. Mimi felt her spine tingle and she backed away.

"Wh-what's wrong with Jou?" she asked. Taichi just hit his head with the palm of his hand. Jou started walking wobbly towards her. Mimi felt even more terrified.

"Mimi… did you really stay at Taichi's during the summer?" Jou said.

"What!? You didn't believe me?" Taichi said comically in disbelief.

Mimi nodded as she hid behind Sora murmuring _akuma…._

"You could have stayed with Sora… that would have been reasonable…" Jou started mumbling on his own.

"Eh? Why add me into this?" Sora said surprised by the comment.

"B-because you're often alone right? Plus… you two are often closer to each other than her and Taichi." Jou said trying to explain himself. "What do you mean by that Jou?" Taichi said on the sidelines.

Taichi looked annoyed but Mimi just stared at Jou as if trying to find a way to exorcise him.

"Y-yeah… but Yamato usually visits once in a while so…"

"But that's it… It's okay because he's your boyfri-" Jou paused. Everyone looked at Taichi and Mimi.

"Could it be that…" Jou pointed at Taichi. "You two are…" he continued now pointing at Mimi. Mimi's face started to turn cherry red. She saw Taichi clench a fist and knew what was coming next.

"Yeah… me and Mimi are dating." he said as Jou collapsed comically on the ground with what looked like his soul coming out from his mouth.

END OF CHAPTER ONE


	2. Chapter 2

THE CREST OF ORIGIN PART 2

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon.

CHAPTER 2

"Since when were you two dating?" yelled Sora as they were walking in the school hallways.

"Well we started dating two months after he started his soccer program back in America." Mimi said blushing.

"Why didn't he tell anyone then?" said Yamato who was walking next to Sora.

"I don't know either. But he didn't want to talk about it so I just went with the flow."

They were walking towards the soccer field to watch Taichi in their practice game. After the events that happened last night, they have been anxious. Taichi was able to send Koushiro the names of the Original Digidestined and told them that he would be talk to him and whoever was available tomorrow after the soccer game. When they reached the field, Taichi and his team were taking a short break. He didn't seem that tired as he was discussing with the others.

"Looks like they're off to a great start." Yamato said pointing at the score board. Taichi's school was in the lead by a massive gap.

"Oh look they're about to start again." Sora said and tried to look for seats when she saw Daisuke and Ken waving at them. She called over Yamato and Mimi who nodded and walked towards the two.

"Oi Daisuke!" Yamato said as he sat down next to them.

"Glad you can make it! Taichi's doing awesome right now!" Daisuke said. Ken nodded.

"Yeah, he's even better than the last time we fought."

"So.. do you think you can hit a goal versus him?" Yamato asked playfully.

"Sure! We've been training really hard! Oh look here he- ha!?" Daisuke stood up and looked at the field closely. Confused, Sora looked as well and saw that a teammate of Taichi was injured.

"Wah… looks like the goalie got hit in the shoulder by accident." said a spectator who was near them.

"Then who would be replacing hi- ha!?" Daisuke said once again almost falling off the bleachers but was saved by Yamato.

"Daisuke you have to calm down. Who is it anyway-" Yamato froze. The one who stood in for the goalie was none other than Taichi himself. A new member was now playing on the offensive.

"I've never seen Taichi play as the goalie before. Have you Sora?" Mimi asked. Sora shook her head and observed the scene.

"I wonder how he plays? But… wouldn't that take a toll on the offense?" Ken said observing the event.

Just as the referee blew his whistle everyone was off. As Ken said, Taichi's team was not as agile as they were earlier. The other team got the ball quickly and started towards the goal. The player kicked with all his might and the ball was flying fast towards the net but, in a blink of an eye, Taichi caught the ball and kicked it to the other side of the field with ease. His teammates ran towards the other goal while the other team was still a far away from them and scored a goal. They were all amazed at this, especially Daisuke.

"Whoah! He's a great goalkeeper!" Mimi said. Sora nodded and looked at Yamato who had a skeptical look in his face.

"Something wrong Yamato?" she asked.

"Taichi… doesn't he seem a bit… angry?"

Mimi looked at her boyfriend and saw it. Taichi was enraged, it wasn't that obvious but anyone who knew Taichi ever since the digiworld would know he's angry at something. And that something really got to him. The game ended with the other team not even being able to get a goal in. The team captain, upon shaking hands looked scared at Taichi who was now smiling at him.

"I-I'm sorry… it won't happen again." He said.

"It was a good game!" Taichi said energetically and walked away.

A few minutes later and Taichi went back to the field only to see Sora and the others still waiting.

"Oh! You're still here?"

"Yeah, hey what happened out there earlier?" Sora asked. Taichi sighed and held his neck looking embarrassed.

"Oh… ahaha that. The thing is." Taichi started explaining. Apparently, the team captain's accidental kick to the shoulder wasn't an accident. Taichi could see from the guys face that he was making sure the goalie couldn't play another game. Taichi confronted the captain but all he said was 'good luck finding someone else.'

"And I got angry… what kind of manipulative prat would do that to another player?" Taichi said.

"Remind me not to get you angry…" Mimi said.

"Still, that was a good game Taichi!" Ken said.

"Thanks! I guess I got a little carried away but I'm glad you liked it. Ah- speaking of which, have you guys seen Koushiro?"

"No, now that I think of it… I think he wasn't even in class earlier." Mimi said.

"That's odd…"

At that moment, they heard footsteps running to their direction. Everyone stared to the direction where they thought the sound was coming from and saw a person with a laptop in their hand.

"Taichi!" Koushiro yelled as he ran faster and faster towards them. Koushiro had a shocked look on his face that no one understood why. But then, Taichi realized that he might have found out where the Original Digidestineds were. Koushiro reached them exasperated from running.

"Koushiro… you alright?" Yamato asked.

"T-taichi! Did you write the names correctly?" he asked.

"Of course I gave the right names." Said Taichi .

"Can you at least tell me the names again." He said opening his laptop and sitting on the bleachers. Yamato and the others sat as well while Taichi stood up.

"Let's see… Riku Ibuka."

Koushiro typed on his laptop and it yielded no results.

"What!?" Taichi said. "Okay… how about Rin Kazuko."

Koushiro typed once more but there was no response.

"What's going on here?" asked Sora.

"I don't know either Sora. But it happened last night as well. What was the last name?" Koushiro asked.

"Last? There was two other people I wrote."

"Oh really?" Koushiro said and looked at his phone so as to check. His jaw dropped and so did his phone the moment he scrolled down.

"Koushiro?" Daisuke said.

"What is it? What is it?" Mimi asked as she took a peak of Koushiro's phone and her jaw dropped too.

"Melody Benett!?" they both yelled in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Taichi asked looking at them suspiciously.

"Taichi…" Mimi looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious with this name?"

"Of course I am what are you talking about? And how about Inori Kunimichi?" he asked. Koushiro looked up the name once more but the same thing happened. So Koushiro pushed through with his question.

"S-so… you knew about Melody Benett?" he said. Mimi was looking at Taichi in amazement and embarrassment.

"Okay what is wrong with you two?" Taichi said leaning on the post and watching them as if they were vexing him. Mimi was the first to talk as she walked towards Taichi.

"Melody Bennet is a famous model in America Taichi."

"Really?" Taichi replied. "Well she did say she wanted to be one when she gets older. Wait, does that mean I can't talk to her?" he thought sadly.

"Well… She does go to Japan during her vacations. I read in one of the magazines I have back home." Mimi replied. Koushiro, with a red face, sat down and started typing.

"If we're lucky, we can find out when her next vacation is and… whoah!" Koushiro showed Taichi the screen wherein a website was posted. The name on the search bar was "Melody Benett" and the results were of her Japan vacation that year.

"Melody is here!" he said smiling excitedly. "And it's in Odabia! I know where that is, I could meet her there!" but Koushiro halted him.

"Taichi, Melody is a famous model. You can't just meet with her like that. She must have some security." this made Taichi lose his excitement.

"Then what do I do?" he asked.

"We could send her an e-mail? Like one of her fans."

Taichi thought for a second but then he noticed the time and looked at everyone.

"We should head home."

Everyone else looked around and the place was completely empty now.

"You're right… Plus, Ken and I were supposed to hang out at his place tonight." Daisuke said patting Ken's back.

"And I have band practice later too. You coming?" Yamato asked Sora who shook her head shyly.

"My dad is coming home for the week and we're having dinner. Sorry." She said and smiled apologetically. Then Taichi turned to Mimi waiting for a response.

"Oh! I'm still helping out at the apartment tonight. Ehehe." She said scratching her head. Everyone walked home together. They bid farewell to Daisuke and Ken first and then Yamato and Sora who rode a train together. Mimi lived near the train station and they dropped her off there. Then it was only Koushiro and Taichi. Koushiro wondered why Taichi never asked him if he was busy.

"You wrote her name in the tracker software right? Melody's name of course." Taichi said. Koushiro nodded and told Taichi the results were the same. He sighed and walked past a pedestrian lane of which Koushiro got confused by.

"Uh Taichi? Don't you need to cross this path to head home?" Koushiro asked pointing at the lane. Taichi turned around and grinned at him.

"Who said I was going home?" he said.

"Then where are you going?" Koushiro asked.

"I'm just going to take a little bit of a stroll. You can go on if you want to, I won't force you to come with me." Koushiro gave him an interrogating look.

"Taichi I told you-" but Taichi cut him off and said, "I'm not. The location isn't even near here."

Koushiro didn't know what to say at this point but then he remembered something. He had to go home and fix his mother's computer today. Taichi stood there silently waiting for a reply. Koushiro couldn't break the promise he had with his mother so he bowed at Taichi and walked away. Taichi bid him farewell and waited until Koushiro was well on his way before starting off at the other direction. He started thinking of the past.

 _"Huh? Who are you people?" said a shocked Taichi who was just wearing his shorts and blue shirt._

 _"Why is there a kid here?" Riku said._

 _"Riku!" yelled Melody as she looked at Taichi. "Hey… how did you get here?"_

 _"I don't know… I was just playing soccer by the river then I suddenly appeared somewhere over there." He said, pointing at a cave near them._

 _"Well what's your name?" Melody said as she knelt down to look at him._

 _"Taichi. Yagami, Taichi."_

 _"Hello Taichi. I'm Melody, Melody Benett." she said smiling vibrantly towards the boy._

Taichi just walked past a kid and was now looking at a perfect view of the river. He stared at it and sighed. He had another thought.

 _"Melody?" said Taichi who was petting a Koromon with her._

 _"Yes?" she replied._

 _"When we leave the digital world… what are you going to do?"_

 _"Eh? Hmmm… I guess be a model!"_

 _"Really?" Taichi said surprised._

 _"Well maybe not now… but when I grow up! Is there something wrong about that?" she looked at Taichi and started pouting._

 _"No… I think you would do great as a model." He said smiling. Melody's eyes glowed as she hugged Taichi._

 _"Oi! Melody!"_

At this point, Taichi was now holding his soccer ball. He had continued walking when he stopped and went down the small hill so as he would be nearer to the river.

 _"You like soccer?" Melody asked._

 _"Yeah! I want to be the best soccer player there is!" Taichi said standing up feeling proud._

 _"I think you'll be great." Melody said caringly._

 _"I practice for fun near the river in Odaiba… You should watch me sometime when we get back home!" Melody nodded saying "Promise!" and moved her hand towards Taichi with her pinky pointing out._

 _"What's that Melody?" Taichi asked._

 _"A 'pinky swear'!"_

 _"'Pinky swear'?"_

 _"That's right!"_

 _"You're weird Melody."_

 _"What did you say!?" Melody said and looked demonically at Taichi._

 _"Akuma!" Taichi said crawling away._

Taichi let out a laugh when he saw someone in front of him.

 _"Melody! I'm just going to find some fruit!" Taichi yelled as he looked back at Melody._

 _"Promise you'll be back soon okay?" she said raising her right hand to show a 'pinky swear.'_

 _"Promise!" Taichi said raising his left hand to show that he was also showing a 'pinky swear'_

 _"I don't know why you two keep doing that." said Riku to Melody._

 _"It's our special signal! It means that we'll make sure to meet again!"_

 _"You really are weird…" Rin said and got hit on the back of his head by Melody._

Taichi's soccer ball started rolling away from him as he followed it.

 _"Melody!" Taichi ran to her._

 _"T-taichi! Where were you? We were looking all over the place…" Melody said smiling at Taichi._

 _"How could you still say those things? What happened?" Taichi said with a traumatized expression._

Taichi's soccer ball continued to roll until someone stopped it.

 _There was a woman where Taichi usually played soccer in. She looked at him with a shocked expression._

 _"Is something wrong miss?" Taichi said._

 _The girl was about to smile but when she heard the word "miss" she stopped._

 _"Oh… uhh nothing. I just… err… promised a friend I'd meet him here. Looks like he won't come though. I'm going to America tomorrow see… So I thought I might say goodbye."_

 _"Some friend. He even made you cry." Melody realized that her eyes were streaming with tears. Taichi took something from his pocket and gave it to her. It was a blue handkerchief. Melody looked at it and then Taichi._

 _"Here, you can keep it. You can wipe your tears with it." Taichi said and smiled. Melody took the handkerchief and said, "Thank you…"_

 _"Hope you have a safe trip back to America." Taichi grinned._

There in front of Taichi was a woman wearing a hooded jacket. She turned to look at the one who stopped and her eyes opened wide. She took a deep breath and said, "Time flies when you're away right?" Taichi didn't reply.

"Oh! You might not remember me anymore… well it has been eight years… ehehe…" she said rubbing her neck. Taichi was about to reply when she started talking again.

"Looks like it's getting late… I should head home no-" she was cut off when Taichi said, "Melody…"

Melody gasped and turned around. Taichi was looking at her straight in the eyes.

"W-well… are you a f-fan of mine?" she said thinking that it was just another one of her followers.

"Well…" Taichi looked at her trying hard to keep a smile on his face. "Not really…"

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

"Oh well that's because…" that was when Taichi raised his left hand pointing out his pinky. Melody froze on the spot. "Eight years ago I was an idiot for not keeping a promise…" Taichi said as a tear fell down his eye.

"Taichi?" Melody said, her eyes starting to water.

"I'm here… Melody." Taichi said in a hush tone. Melody's tears were streaming now. The sun had started setting by that time and they were both completely alone. Taichi couldn't put down his hand as he was frozen where he stood. Melody raised her right hand pointing out her pinky.

"You're late…" she said letting out a soft smile. That was when Taichi felt every ounce of guilt that had built up inside of him since the moment he got his memories of everyone back.

"I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" he said with his voice cracking up.

END OF CHAPTER 2


	3. Chapter 3

THE CREST OF ORIGIN (PART 2)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon

CHAPTER 3

"Welcome back!" Melody hugged Taichi tightly. Taihci was taken aback by the sudden change of his friend. But, in a way it felt comforting for him and so… he hugged back.

"I'm really sorry." he said as they parted. Melody, with a huge smile on her face, nodded at him and said, "I'm just glad you're here now." A gust of wind swept and Melody's hood was blown away. This was the first time Taichi saw Melody's face in a long time.

She was stunningly beautiful. Her pale complexion compliments her now auburn hair. Her emerald green eyes shine out so easily that it becomes striking. She was wearing a hooded jacket and dark colored jeans. Her boots were light brown it seemed that she was close to the river earlier due to the fact that they have hints of mud and water on its edges.

Melody was already 20 years old, he thought. She looked very mature but, he still sees that bubbly young girl he met 9 years ago. He was glad.

"You're taller than me now!" she told Taichi who was picking up his duffle bag from the ground.

"You didn't think I'd stay that short forever right?" he responded and they both laughed.

"It's getting chilly. Let's go to my apartment!" Melody said in an excited tone.

"Eh!?"

"Yeah! We have a lot of things to catch up on! Plus, I think you owe me a lot of sweets now." she smirked in an evil fashion. Taichi recalled her fascination with sweets and pastries.

" _I really like blueberry cheesecakes! Don't you Taichi?" Melody asked as they were hiking a mountain._

" _No, I don't really like eating cakes." Taichi said._

" _Ha!?" Melody said looking shocked._

"Aren't you afraid you might gain some weight?" Taichi accidentally said as he was reminiscing those specific words from nine years ago. His back felt terrible pain. Melody had just hit it forcibly with her hand.

"You…" she said in a demonic tone which made Taichi back away from her. They stared at each other for a few seconds. She looked at him cowering and smiled.

"This is exactly what happened last time…" she said.

Back in the Yagami residence, Hikari was cooking dinner with her mother.

"Hikari, do you know where you're brother is right now?" Hikari shook her head.

"He could at least tell us where he goes these days. Last time he was out this late, was found out he was in another part of Japan."

Hikari couldn't respond to her mother. She too was worried but she couldn't get a hold of his brother since she got home.

After dinner, she decided to try and contact her brother again. As she was about to dial his number, her phone glitched.

"What's happening?" she wondered. She started pressing all the buttons on her phone but it won't stop glitching. When it stopped glitching, Taichi's number vanished.

At that time, Taichi and Melody had entered her apartment. It has a modern and homey feel.

"You sure do clean your house a lot."`Taichi said.

"I stay here a month every year so of course I keep it clean!" she said as they sat on the sofa.

"Ah, I should check my phone just in case Hikari called." he said as he took out his phone.

For a brief moment, the crest started glowing without Taichi noticing and then it vanished.

"Hikari?"

"Oh, she's my younger sister." he replied and saw that she didn't call.

"Huh, that's odd. Usually she'd call by now." He dialed Hikari's number and waited. Someone answered back.

"Taichi?" Hikari spoke.

"Hikari? You sound off. Did something happen?"

"Well, yeah. I was going to call you earlier but my phone started glitching and your number got deleted."

"That's odd? Hey, something came up so I'm heading home later than usual okay?"

"Oh, sure Taichi. But, be careful alright, I have a bad feeling about this."

"I promise. Let's talk to Koushiro tomorrow." he said as they bid goodbye and hung up.

"Something happened?" Melody said walking towards him.

"No, not really. Actually, I think I should head home for now. Hikari seemed a little worried about me."

"Taichi, when was I ever that gullible." Melody spoke seriously. Taichi slowly turned his head towards her with both shock and confusion in his expression.

"I can feel it…" Melody spoke. She showed him her hand. Taichi didn't notice it earlier due to the fact that she was wearing gloves but he saw it, something he had never seen for a long time. There, at the back of her right hand, the crest of Knowledge.

"I came back as soon as my crest started glowing. Taichi, tell me what happened while we were away."

"We?"

"Riku and the others. I know we haven't talked in a while but I think they should have felt it as well."

Taichi looked less happy about the situation.

"If you felt it, then you know what it's about." he said.

"How could you be so sure?"

"I wouldn't be looking for you guys if it weren't the case."

"Then…" Melody tried to speak but she couldn't finished her sentence.

"Yes… it's back. The void." Taichi clenched his fist so tightly that he had accidentally injured it. Melody covered her mouth in fear.

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Notes:_

 _I have been gone for too long! I apologize to everyone who had been waiting for the next chapters. I just transferred to a new university so I was in a transition period. But now, I think I have a new scheduling tactic on hand and that is why my stories can possibly be updated on a regular basis now. Yay!_

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon.

CHAPTER 4

"But how? We defeated the void. After you… well..." Melody decided not to continue talking.

The void was, and always will be, the bane of the Original Digidestined's existence. It was not a digimon, nor was it anything they've ever encountered. It was a living nightmare to fight and for Taichi, young as he was during those times, it was something he will never forget.

"I don't know for sure how it came back. But I know it has something to do with your crests reactivating so suddenly." Taichi said. Melody tilted her head at what she heard.

"Taichi, how did you know our crests deactivated?" Taichi gasped. He had completely forgotten that he had died right in front of them before they came back from the digital world. In Melody's perspective, he had no way of knowing what happened afterwards. He assessed the situation. Melody knew him in a way. She's not one to be fooled so easily and she certainly won't let him leave now until he explained. He sighed.

"When I regained my memories, I also was able to see you four… post digital world."

"That still begs the question, who gave back your memories?"

"Origin." Taichi looked at her, expressionless.

Melody backed away. Her eyes were fixed on Taichi's. It had never occurred to her that he had also remembered Origin. But now she has more questions piling up in her head. She saw Taichi and his friends, she assumed, as they ascended to the sky transporting them back to the digital world. He had another digimon by his side, an agumon. Did he remember them during that time? Or did he return to the digital world without knowing anything about it? Could it be that his life was rebooted? And what of Origin? Did they meet once more during that event? When did he give back his memories? What did Taichi do after tthey left? She had no idea how to voice out her questions.

Taichi walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Overthinking again are we?" he said. Melody nodded slowly. Taichi gave her a gentle smile and spoke once more.

"Let's… sit down for now." he spoke as both of them sat on her couch.

Taichi started telling Melody about his adventures in the digital world. All his friends and what happened during the summer. He spoke of the enemies, his experience with the new Digital World and how he gained a new crest along the way.

"And what of Origin?" Melody asked. Even if he doesn't show it, the subject still stings him very deeply. But nonetheless, he still told her the truth.

"Origin is gone… he sacrificed himself to save my life..." he said grimly. Melody fell quiet. She smiled in a sad but caring manner towards Taichi as he held his hand.

"I'll be fine. In times like these where people depend on you, it's best to live with the pain and push through it rather than letting it consume you."

"You've really grown up Taichi. I wish I was like you back when I was sixteen."

"You won't like it if you do. Who would want to live my life?" He gave her a faint smile and stared outside the window. Melody knew what he was talking about and, just like Origin, gave him a look of pity.

"It sure is dark out." he said.

"Maybe you should head home. You're sister might get worried." she said as she looked outside the window as well.

"We're all worried. Do you still have contacts with the others?"

"The last time I saw Rin and Riku personally was 2 years ago. I can still contact them though. It's best to let them know as soon as possible."

"Where are they now though?"

"They're in America."

"America?"

"Yeah. You know Rin, he's always wanted to go there and luckily for him, his father got a job in New York. And Riku, well… last I heard, he was in last summer's sports program."

"Really? I was there as well. For soccer purposes and a possible recruitment. Did he continue playing baseball?" Melody nodded.

"Oh, and Inori."

"Inori?" Melody thought and jumped off the couch to which Taichi responded by moving away in an awkward fashion.

"Inori just got back a few days ago from a trip to Paris! We've always gotten together when I visit Japan. I can actually call her tomorrow." Melody said energetically.

"That's great Melody!" Taichi said standing up as well. He had never imagined looking for his friends could be accomplished sooner than he had anticipated. Then he remembered something.

"That phone call… what do you think about that? Other than the distortions, I mean."

"I've never heard of phones just deleting numbers like that. Neither have I heard of a type of glitch that is caused by that. Did it affect your phone?"

Taichi checked his phone contacts and looked up 'Hikari Y.' and saw one result. His heart skipped a beat and he spoke.

"No, it didn't." he paused for a moment. "Uhh, Melody?"

"Yeah?"

"Who is Hikari anyways?" Melody looked at Taichi in shock as he gasped at what he just said.

"Melody, what just happened." he said baffled. "Why did I say those things?"

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Chapter 5

RETURNING NOTES

I should start by apologizing to everyone who started reading my story as I started writing a few years back. I was not in a good place, and I am still not in a good place right now. However, I do want to continue writing my stories in fanfiction and pursue writing on different platforms as well.

I do not wish to create another long explanation as to why I left and why I came back, so this is where I end my introductions and begin the story. I hope you enjoy chapter five of "The Crest of Origin 2."

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DIGIMON.

CHAPTER 5

"Melody, why did I say that?" Taichi looked at Melody wide eyed. His hands were tightly clutching the phone. His back leaning on Melody's front door. His eyes were trailing off from Melody as he began to panic.

Melody grabbed Taichi by the shoulders and shook him vigorously.

"Snap out of it! We can't talk sense if you begin panicking!" she shouted. He looked at her bewildered but upon realizing his own actions, he stood up straight and took a deep breath. He collected his thoughts, waited until Melody had let go of him, and looked at her calmly assuring his now sane state.

"You should head home for now." Melody spoke. Taichi nodded in approval. Before he walked out, he turned towards Melody and asked, "Can I get your number?"

"Just in case?" she asked already knowing why he wanted to acquire it. Taichi just nodded. He offered his phone to her and she took it, typed her number in and gave it back to him.

"Thank you." He said as he walked out. Melody mouthed the words 'be careful' before she closed her front door.

As he got down from the apartment, he walked towards a different path; a path he now remembered was his shortcut to their old home.

"What am I doing?" he said as he laughed, noticing his own ignorance to directions.

He reached their old house and looked at the door. He felt something strange, his heartbeat slowed down. All of a sudden, he looked at the door and believed it was his current home. He looked like he was in a trance, slowly raising his hand towards the doorbell, assuming Hikari would open the door for him.

Inside the home, someone heard the buzzing doorbell. In a matter of seconds, the door was open.

"Can I help you?" asked the elderly woman.

Taichi was still in a dazed and confused state. Noticing that it was not in fact Hikari on the other side of the door, he tilted his head.

The elderly woman looked scared. She asked again, "Can I help you?" with a shaky voice. The fear reverberated in Taicih's head and he snapped back to reality. He looked around him confused. Feeling dizzy, he leaned on the post behind him. The elderly woman jumped at the sight and rushed towards Taichi.

"Young man, are you alright?" she said holding his hand comfortingly.

"Did you drink anything? Were you drugged?" her voice showing more worry. Taichi shook his head and chuckled a little. The elderly woman looked at him surprised.

"I'm sorry. I haven't been feeling well for a few hours now." He said finally gaining composure.

"I used to live in that apartment, ma'am. I'm so sorry I woke you up this late in the evening!" Taichi said bowing his head apologetically. The elderly woman smiled at him and asked him to stand up straight.

"Yagami… am I right?" she asked. He nodded.

"I met your mother a month ago. She was looking for her son, thinking he might have come back here after leaving home. I supposed that was you?" she asked reassuring Taichi she bore no ill will against him.

"Yes… I guess I'm the wayward son she was looking for."

"I guess you've gone home by now, am I right?" Taichi just nodded. He did not know why she was asking these questions all of a sudden.

"Good, better to keep your family from worrying any longer." She said and gave Taichi something from her pockets. It was a bronze whistle. His eyes widened.

"Where did you get this?"

"From a small boy who once lived here. It was the only thing left of this house. I think it's only fitting that I give it back to you after all these years."

* * *

Taichi walked back to their current house after bidding farewell to the elderly woman, placing the whistle in his pocket.

Before he tapped the buzzer, he remembered what the woman told him:

 _Better to keep your family from worrying any longer…_

He had always thought about it. He knew that he had caused more trouble for his family and friends than any good. Why did he keep on returning to his reckless habits? Why did he present troubles for everyone with every decision he made?

He had not noticed that the door had opened at this point and that Hikari had been looking at him curiously.

"Are you alright, Taichi?" she asked, finally breaking the ice. Taichi had his head down and jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Hikari…" he remembered the events that had transpired a few hours earlier. That moment he forgot her own sister. A tear fell down his face as he smiled.

"Taichi, I-" before Hikari could finish her sentence, Taichi hugged her gently. It was not from fear, or worry, or dread, but from happiness and relief.

It was already three in the morning when Taichi got home. He slept almost instantly, forgetting to lock the door to his room. Hikari was drinking a glass of water as he went to his room. She had many things she wanted to ask him, but knew he would not respond to any of them if she pestered. With that thought, she went back to bed.

* * *

Hikari woke up the next day later than she used to. By the time she had got up and left her room, it was already noon. She walked past Taichi's room; the door was hanging open, with him not inside.

"Mom, where did Taichi go?" she asked, assuming he had left the house once again. She had been used to him just leaving without anyone knowing that she instinctively asked. Which was why she was surprised when she saw him in the kitchen.

"They left a few hours earlier." Taichi said, in a slightly relaxed tone. He was eating tonkatsu alone, the television playing the news.

"I left some for you. Thought you might be hungry." He said and continued eating.

Hikari sat next to his brother and watched the news. The anchor was talking about disturbances in cellular receptions. People losing contacts and not being able to send or receive messages.

"I'm sorry I went home late." He said as Hikari took a bowl and started eating the food he prepared.

"It's alright. You got home safely… that's all that matters." She said. She had been so eager to ask questions earlier in the day, but for some reason she could not get the words to come out from her mouth. There was just something from the way his brother was acting that made her feel like she did not want to know anymore. A sort of calming feeling. He was there, not injured, not sick. He was just there, with her. It felt reassuring. It felt… safe. She did not want this normality to end so suddenly. They have not had this much peace in ages. He took both of their bowls and placed them in the sink, humming a tune as he washed them.

Their telephone rang.

"I'll answer it." She said. Taichi thanked her and continued washing the dishes. Their parents had called, telling them that they were going to be late and that they should lock the doors early. Hikari sat back on her chair and watched a soccer game playing on tv. Taichi sat next to her and watched along. They spoke banter and commented on the game. Taichi happily remarked some moves he wanted to try out on their next soccer training.

After the game ended, Taichi stretched his arms and spoke.

"Did you want to talk about what happened last night?"

Remembering the disturbance that occurred last night, she pondered if she wanted to tell him or not. Why was she feeling this much contradiction? Why did she not want to end this peace? What was stopping her? Before she had time to speak, she felt a hand hold her head, moving it towards Taichi's shoulder, making her lean on it. She had not noticed her tears falling from her cheeks. Why was she feeling these things? Nothing bad had happened and yet here she was, comforted by her brother.

"Just let it all out. We can talk about this later." He said, caressing her hair in an attempt to calm her down. She cried on his shoulders, whimpering in the process.

* * *

Taichi brought her hot chocolate to drink. Hikari sat where she had been earlier.

"That was the most peaceful I've ever seen you be since that time with Origin." She finally spoke. Taichi just looked at her calmly.

"It felt so unreal… For a moment, it felt so relaxing. It felt like you were free. I… I didn't want to see you go back to being serious. I didn't want to see you obsessing about protecting other people, defending your friends, looking for clues. I… I wanted you to stay like that. Like a normal person." Hikari looked at her brother who had stayed quiet.

"Say something… Tell me I'm selfish for thinking that I could have a normal time with my brother. To imagine that for once, we weren't digidestineds." Taichi shook his head.

"We all have those feelings. We all want some peace. There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling Hikari." Hikari just stayed quiet.

"Even if we're not as normal as everyone would want us to be, it doesn't mean that we won't have peaceful moments like this. Sure, it won't be as often as we want it to be, but that's what makes them so special." Taichi said.

"I wish we had more normal times than hard times." She spoke.

"You know in your heart that that's not true." Taichi said.

"Without those hardships, we wouldn't have met our friends, our partners. We wouldn't be the people we are today. I got to see you grow up into this amazing person." She chuckled.

"Wouldn't you have wanted to have a normal life? Away from everything that happened to you… especially to you?" she asked.

"You know… I thought I did… but I would have never been who I am now if it weren't for everything that happened. I wouldn't have learned what I've learned if it weren't for all the pain and suffering… I wouldn't have been the brother that I've been… no matter how much of a failure I was at it." Hikari shook her head at that thought.

"You're not a failure. You're a pain sometimes, but you always had my best interest at heart." She said smiling.

"Thank you… Glad to know I did something right." They shared a moment of silence before being cut off by Hikari as she became more comfortable talking to Taichi about her thoughts.

"Why are you acting like this today?" he fell silent for a moment.

"Like you, I wanted to have some peace. After all that's been going on-" he paused for a moment and looked at his pulse area where the crest would appear.

"I just wanted to know that you're safe. I wanted to know that you're here with me, right now." those words reverberated in Hikari's mind. They were genuine, they were something she thought she'd never hear from his brother ever again. She hugged him tenderly.

"That's the most honest thing you've said in a long time, Taichi." Taichi rubbed her back comfortingly.

"I'll always be here Hikari, even when times get rough. I will always be here, alright?" Hikari nodded and she let go.

* * *

Taichi walked towards the living room where Hikari was, taking out her phone and showing him her contacts.

"Your phone number vanished last night. It hasn't returned since." She told him.

Taichi looked at it and input his number once more.

"The news earlier, the disturbance, you knew about it when you called, right?" Hikari asked.

"Yes. I had an inkling."

"Then, why didn't you tell us?"

"I needed to be sure." Hikari kept silent. Taichi noticed this and sighed. He sat down and returned her phone.

"There was something else that happened before I went home." He said.

"What happened?"

"For some reason I'm not very sure of myself, I had forgotten you." He spoke with a worried tone.

"Forgot… me?"

"Yes… for a brief moment, I completely forgot you. It- it was terrifying. I even went to our old home… and believed that we were still living there. I- I don't know why this is actually happening."

"Taichi-" Hikari cupped her brother's hand and made him look her in the eyes, "I'm not letting another bad thing happen to you again. Not this soon. We need to call Koushiro and the others." She spoke, frightful at the thought of her own brother forgetting her and determined to stop his troubles.

"We were planning on it." Taichi reassured her. "I am as determined to put an end to this before anything worse happens than any of you. However, we can't do this with just us."

"What do you mean?"

"We need more people. These disturbances happening between the networks, I'm all too familiar with it."

"You mean… you've dealt with it before?" he nodded.

"I may not know why my memory failed me yesterday, but this current, this feeling, my crest…"

"I thought Origin gave you that crest as a parting gift."

"He did… but he also gave a parting warning along with it."

He spoke of the night Hikari saw the crest after the battle. He saw a vision later that same night. A darkness that would consume the entire planet. It had no form, no figure, no signs. The digital world, completely vanquished, erased from existence. There, in the center of it all, was Taichi. Staring at the two dying worlds, he snapped back to reality and began his search for the original digidestineds.

"That vision, there was no mistaking it. Something diabolical is about to come after the two worlds."

"What is it? Who are we facing Taichi?" Taichi stared at her sister and looked at his Crest as he made it appear.

"The last enemy we faced as the original digidestineds." He clutched his fist and looked outside as the lamp lighting their pathway turned off.

"The Void."

END OF CHAPTER 5


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON.

CHAPTER 6

That night, Hikari called Koushiro and the other digidestined to come over their home. By the time they got there, Taichi had left.

"Where did Taichi go?" asked Koushiro. He had brought his laptop as usual in the assumption that it was for their search of the original digidestineds.

"He never told me. He said that it's important." Hikari replied.

Yamato had been talking to Sora ever since they got there as Takeru sat closer to Hikari. Daisuke and Jou were talking about sanitation problems in a mobile ramen stand.

"It could work, you know! I could put my clothes in there too!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"Daisuke, that's not how things work. You're going to sell food, you have to keep the health of your customers in mind." Jou explained.

Iori, talking to Miyako and Ken about the current situation, noticed Mimi was silently sitting by herself near the front door.

"Are you alright there Mimi?" he asked. Mimi glanced at Iori and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess it's just weird that Taichi would call us over just to leave for something else." she said.

"Come to think of it, he didn't even tell Hikari why he left. Could he be hiding something?" Ken asked them.

"No, that's not Taichi. He always has a reason for everything he does." Sora responded. Yamato looked glum the moment Sora said those words.

"That's the thing… He always has a reason for leaving. He always has a reason for everything he does. Nothing he does is ever done just by the thrill of it anymore." Yamato sighed. Everyone went silent.

The doorbell buzzed.

"That must be Taichi." Hikari said.

"I'll open the door!" Mimi said rushing towards the door.

Taichi was standing in front of the door with his phone in hand. He looked at Mimi slightly surprised and waved at her.

"Hey Mimi."

"Hey! T-" Mimi froze. Behind Taichi was Melody, leaning on one of the posts in the hallway.

" _Mimi? Am I right?"_ Melody said, smiling at her. Mimi was beyond words.

* * *

Melody, sat in the middle of the room looking at everyone staring at her. She tilted her head and did something unexpected- she barked. Yamato and the others fell to the floor comically.

Koushiro scratched his head in bewilderment and chuckled. With that, Melody grinned.

"Now that that's out of the way, let me formally introduce myself. My name is Melody Benett. I'm one of Taichi's old friends. It's very nice to meet you all!" She said bowing to everyone.

Hikari smiled at her and spoke in American, _"Nice to meet you Melody."_

The tone of Hikari's voice triggered something inside of Melody causing her to rush to Hikari, hugging her tightly.

" _You have such a cuuuuuute voice!"_

Mimi looked shocked at how Melody acted.

"Didn't expect her to be weird?" Taichi said, standing next to Mimi.

"Y-yeah." she said awkwardly.

While everyone was somewhat enjoying the quirky scene that was transpiring, Taichi took a deep breath and cleared his throat to signal that they have to start the discussion.

Everyone got the signal and sat themselves down.

"Now that everyone's comfortable with everyone, we can begin discussing why I asked you all to come here in the first place."

"Just a moment, Taichi." Koushiro raised his hand. Taichi glanced at him.

"How did you meet Melody."

"Last night."

"You said you wouldn't go to-"

"I swear to you Koushiro, it wasn't my intention to look for her when we parted ways. We met by chance." Melody nodded.

"I was just passing by the neighborhood when I saw Taichi." Melody said, smiling at Koushiro who proceeded to blush. Taichi recomposed himself and proceeded to discuss the matter at hand.

"You might have all watched the news earlier today about the distortions or maybe you've read an article about it. In whatever way you got the information, that's what we're facing right now." as Taichi spoke, Koushiro took out his laptop and Melody, unbeknownst to anyone else, took out a tablet and opened an article about the current topic.

"I want to know if anyone of you guys have actually gotten numbers deleted from your contacts or weren't able to contact one another last night." Taichi looked around for someone to respond.

"I did." Sora said.

"I was calling Yamato earlier that night to ask about a homework we had, but I couldn't reach him. I checked my contacts to call him, but his number was deleted as well."

"The same happened to me, with Takeru." Yamato added.

"I wasn't able to call Koushiro last night as well." Jou responded.

"Now that I think of it, Miyako and Ken's numbers were deleted from my phone last night as well." spoke Iori.

"Did you all try calling someone else that night?" Taichi asked.

"My Dad," Yamato said, "To get Takeru on the line. I was able to contact him, but not Takeru."

"Then we can assume this only happened with contacts related to the us. Melody-" Taichi said, looking towards Melody who stopped typing on her tablet and looked at Taichi. Knowing what he was going to ask, she immediately said, "No. I couldn't contact any of them last night. I was however able to contact them today."

"What are the arrangements?" Taichi asked.

"The two boys are on their way to Japan."

"And Inori?" Melody looked at Taichi more relaxed at hearing him say that name.

"I gave her our location a few minutes after you met up with me at my apartment. In theory, she should be arriving in about 10 minutes."

Taichi nodded and looked towards everyone who looked wide-eyed at the two talking.

"What?" Taichi asked confused.

"You got the original digidestineds?" Koushiro asked.

"Yes. Melody had contacts with them. Luckily, they knew the situation at hand and were willing to help."

"We're not just here to help, Taichi." Melody looked at him grimly.

Taichi sighed and was about to proceed when Koushiro asked another question.

"Why did my software not track their locations?" he asked. Taichi was about to respond when Melody put her tablet on her lap and spoke.

"I heard about the software you made. It's pretty intricate. It's great for tracking digidestineds." she said.

"Ah- thank you…" Koushiro said upon hearing her speak.

"If I'm right and Taichi's explanation of it is accurate, this can trace the locations of digidestineds from all over Japan. Anyone with a digital device are locatable as long as they are in the locality, am I right?" Koushiro nodded.

"Now, Taichi said you tried using that software to trace us; those that came before you. And it is a proper assumption that you would believe it would work on us. However-" Melody raised her tablet once more and typed something before looking at Kousiro again. "You missed an important part in your algorithm."

Koushiro, unable to believe he had missed something in his program, looked it through.

"I'm quite sure it would work with all the digidestineds. I've tested it on countless of devices. I-" he paused. Melody nodded.

"Unless you didn't have devices to begin with." Koushiro finally concluded.

"You're right!" Melody grinned at Koushiro.

"We didn't have digital devices back when it was our turn in the digital world. Your program only included those with devices in the assumption that all digidestineds even prior to your time, had one."

"I see." Koushiro spoke softly, but smiled almost immediately.

"Thank you! This will bode well for my future programs!" he said. Melody nodded.

"It's no problem! In fact-" Melody continued to type on her tablet and hit a button that was meant to send an email attachment to someone. Koushiro's laptop notified him of an email and he looked at it. It was from Melody. Yamato, Sora and Ken were there looking at the email with Koushiro's jaw dropping.

"If you simplify your algorithm to only scanning from specific beacons instead of individual hotspots, you can expand the program to trace not just domestically, but internationally." She said, smiling at her handywork.

"H-how… How did you-" Koushiro could not speak. Mimi looked at Melody and smirked.

"I thought you were like me, the crest of sincerity." she said. Melody smiled at the thought.

"We thought she was." spoke a girl who Taichi had just allowed entrance to their home. Everyone looked at the new visitor.

She had short jet black hair, just above the neck. Her deep dark brown eyes, pale skin and moderately tall height made it seem like she was a vampire of some sorts.

"Inori." Melody spoke.

"You changed your hair color." Inori said looking at Melody. Her voice, deep and mysterious.

"You cut your hair shorter than before." Melody retorted.

She looked at everyone in the room who had become uncomfortable with her appearance. She was wearing a black turtleneck, checkered skirt, log black socks and platformed high heeled ankle boots. The silence became unbearable to her. She bowed to all of them.

"I'm sorry!" She continuously bowed. Melody let out an awkward smile.

"I don't mean to make everyone uncomfortable. Please forgive me." She said, still bowing apologetically.

"It's alright. You can stop apologizing Inori." spoke Melody.

Taichi looked at Inori and smirked.

"You're just like before…"

* * *

" _I'm sorry! Please forgive me Taichi!" Inori said bowing uncontrollably towards Taichi. She was tasked to get food along a lake when she met up with Taichi. Her long black hair had gotten caught by a branch. When she had freed herself from the branch she tripped and fell to her knees, in front of Taichi. Not knowing who it was, Taichi felt a chill run down his spine. Inori's hair was a mess, most of it covering her face. Her white cloak, covering her clothes made it look like she was a ghost. Taichi ran away and fell into the lake._

* * *

After everyone got over her mysterious facade, they looked at her once more. She was smiling sheepishly, realizing the scene she made. Her eyes glowed in the moonlight and she had a very sincere ambiance surrounding her.

"Mimi," Melody looked at the girl behind her. "Meet Inori, she's the one who bears the crest of Sincerity." Inori revealed her crest to everyone, placed on the left pulse area, just like Taichi. Mimi looked at her in amazement.

"Then… that would mean that Melody, you…" Koushiro said as she raised her left arm, revealing her crest.

"I'm the original barer of the crest of knowledge!" She grinned.

Inori sat next to Mimi and Taichi looked over some information from Melody's tablet and Koushiro's laptop.

"Looks like the distortions aren't happening right now. Koushiro can send information normally. Hikari was able to send a message to Daisuke. We can safely assume that it won't attack any time soon."

"I've send word to Riku and Rin meaning that they are still reachable by phone. Hopefully they can arrive here without any troubles." Melody said.

"We can't stay comfortable with this peace." Taichi said.

"Taichi…" Inori said, looking at her friend she had not seen for nine years. He glanced at her and she looked away.

"Uhh- I was just going to ask if this really is the void, then… We can't stop it from attacking in the human world." she said ignoring what she really wanted to say.

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked. Taichi looked at the lamp outside.

"The void…" Melody said standing next to Taichi.

"It's an entity with no form. Created from all the negativity of the digital world and the human world. It's everywhere. It cannot be stopped by physical attacks."

"Was that who you fought before?" Ken asked. Inori nodded.

"We were fortunate to have survived our encounter with the void in general. Though we thought we had vanquished it." Melody said with a grim expression. Taichi had completely averted his gaze from everyone and looked at the lamp outside.

"It had this ability to create digimons from the depths of the digital world. A monster consumed by malice and created with vile intentions. It was horrible." Melody spoke.

"How were you able to stop it all those years ago?" Inoue asked.

"It may not have a form, but in every creature, there is always a source of their power. For the void, it was beacons."

Everyone fell silent.

"The reason Inori said that we can't stop it in the real world is because the beacons are located in the Digital World. We thought we had destroyed all of them when it was our turn. From the looks of it, we haven't."

"But-" Daisuke raised his hand. "These distortions are only minor. Why the sudden worry?" Melody looked at Daisuke with irritation, however, she realized this and calmed down. Daisuke apologized afterwards.

"You have to understand, we thought the same way too…" Inori said, holding Melody's shoulder.

"We saw what the world became. The void taunted us. A vision of the earth being consumed by darkness and the Digital World dying entirely."

"We were able to go home, a chance I took with Inori. A chance we both regretted immediately." Melody said.

"We were able to head to our homes. However, the distortions happened. Phones losing reception, contacts vanishing. It wasn't happening selectively… it happened internationally. The next thing we knew, lights started shutting off. Businesses were at a stand still, people were stranded from one location to another, the world was descending to catastrophe. We were lucky that we got sent back to the digital world before it got worse. That's when we took everything seriously. We stopped acting selfishly and began hunting for the beacons." Inori said disappointed.

"We might look foolish taking this minor distortion seriously, but if you saw the digital world at that time, you wouldn't be acting the way you are now." Melody told Daisuke. She smiled at him, however.

"Don't worry! I'm not mad at you. We can understand where you are all coming from. It's alright." Melody explained. Daisuke felt a little relief from her words.

"So, what's our next move?" Yamato asked Taichi who jumped upon hearing Yamato. It took him a few seconds before he could respond.

"We wait for Riku and Rin. Then we head to the digital world."

"Whoah! Just a moment Taichi!" Jou said.

"I have my review! I can't just up and go to the digital world like last summer." he explained.

Melody looked at all of them.

"He's right, we can't just go without explanations."

Taichi paused for a brief moment. He had completely forgotten that they had classes tomorrow. In fact, he had forgotten that they even had classes in the first place.

"Taichi?" Yamato looked at his friend confused. Melody gasped and looked at Taichi. As the lamp outside flickered, so did Taichi's eyes twitched. It looked like he was blacking out as the lamp was.

"Taichi? Taichi, stay with us." Melody said standing up and holding his shoulders.

"What's happening?" Sora and Mimi asked worriedly looking at Taichi. Hikari stood up. She recalled what he told him earlier that day.

The lamp was dimming and Taichi started closing his eyes.

"Taichi!" Hikari yelled and Taichi snapped. The light stopped blinking. Everyone looked at Taichi and he looked at Melody who was in front of him.

"Taichi?" Melody looked at him worried. Hikari walked towards his brother. The moment Melody noticed Hikari was there she looked at Taichi in his dazed eyes.

"Taichi, look at her-" she points to Hikari, "what is her name?"

Taichi stared at Hikari and said, "N- no. I-"

He looked around the place and noticed everyone else looking at him.

"Who are these people?" he asked. Melody backed away and looked at those behind her. They were baffled.

"T-taichi, come on… You have to remember us." Yamato said deperately as he noticed Hikari covering her mouth with her hands in disbelief.

"I- Where-" He couldn't come up with full sentences until the lamp outside burst. Everyone screamed and covered their head as the lightbulb on top of them broke as well.

* * *

Taichi looked at the dark room and gasped.

"Hikari!?" he yelled, looking for her sister. She rushed towards him and hugged him tightly. He chuckled nervously and hugged back.

Melody looked outside. Her eyes opened wide.

"Everyone… Come look!"

Yamato and the others rushed towards the window and gasped.

One by one, the lights outside started dying. And one by one, they can hear cars beeping, crashing towards each other. Trains stopping mid way.

"It's starting…" Inori said. Melody rushed to see her tablet and it had turned off.

"Shoot! Koushiro! Where's your laptop!"

Koushiro checked his laptop but it had turned off as well.

"Nothing! What's going on!"

"We can't wait for Riku or Rin any longer." Melody thought.

"They're on a plane towards here… What if…" Inori said as the thought of her friends dying from a plane crash kept popping in her head.

"We need to get to the digital world!" Hikari said as did the others.

Taichi was still at a loss as to what happened. He looked around. The light was dimming pretty quickly. All the devices were dying out and they had no time left to plan. He then noticed his crest glowing. Inori and Melody's crest glowed as well.

The digivices started beeping and they took them out.

"What's going on?" Their digivices glowed and surrounded them. A bright light blinded them. When it faded, the earth froze. Everything went quiet.

* * *

Taichi looked around their surroundings. He felt a pang at the back of his head. He turned around and saw something he did not believe he would see ever again, Origin. He was standing in front of him, but it looked like only Taichi can see him. Taichi wanted to talk to him, but Origin shushed him.

'You're just in my head' Taichi thought and Origin nodded.

'I must be really terrified.' Origin smiled at him and looked at their crests. Taichi remembered an event that occurred a couple of years before when it was Daisuke and his group's time to protect the digital world. Taichi was able to call forth the a link to the digital world for those digidestineds that were consumed by the darkness. Taichi looked at his digivice and Origin's crest.

'Can I still do that?' he asked Origin. He shrugged and vanished, leaving Taichi looking at his glowing crests.

He raised his hand and made his crest glow brighter.

"Digiport, open!" Taichi yelled and a gust of wind swept through them. By the time they opened their eyes, they were in the middle of the desert in the Digital World.

"I did it…" Taichi said.

"Taichi!" Yamato yelled. Taichi realized he was separated a few meters away from the group. He rushed back towards them and looked at the place they landed on.

Daisuke, Miyako and Iori's clothes were transformed to what they wear when they get transported to the digital world. They have officially arrived to the digital world.

"I can't believe it actually worked." Taichi said pocketting his digivice.

"Does this mean that-" Mimi said but paused.

"I guess it is…" Koushiro continued.

"We can't go back now." Hikari said walking towards Taichi. Taichi nodded and looked at the vast desert surrounding them.

He took a step forward and felt something under the sand. He picked up the back end of the item and gasped at the sight of his goggles. The ones he gave Daisuke back in the day. He looked at Daisuke and his goggles were different. Pondering for a brief period of time, he dawned the goggles and looked at everyone. Their determined faces prominent.

"Let's go save the world… again."

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon.

CHAPTER 7

Taichi and the digidestineds were in the middle of a blazing desert somewhere in the digital world. With such a flat horizon surrounding their every direction, they couldn't pinpoint their actual direction.

"I've never seen such a vast desert in the digital world. Usually you would have seen some sort of cliff or an out of context item from the real world." Koushiro said looking around the desert in search for anything they could use as shade.

Yamato looked around, there was literally nothing that they could differentiate from the desert. It was as if everything that was supposedly there was not there anymore.

"How are we supposed to know the right direction?" Jou exclaimed.

"We don't." Melody spoke. Looking for something around them. Once she noticed the strap of her bag behind Mimi, she bent over and grabbed it happily. Mimi backed away as she yanked her bag from the sand. She also grabbed one other thing from that side of the sands, her tablet.

Pressing the button, she was relieved.

"It's still working." she said sighing in relief.

"H-how did you see that?" Ken asked. "I barely can see anything from the sand!" he exclaimed in shock. Taichi looked at everyone's position and raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Melody who smirked at him.

' _So that's how you found out.'_ he thought to himself and scoffed. Hikari noticed this.

"Taichi?" she walked towards his brother who walked towards Melody. He stood right next to her and looked straight at them.

"Koushiro, walk two steps to your left and bend down." Taichi ordered. Koushiro nodded and walked where Taichi had told him and bent down.

"Okay, now what?" he asked.

"Now look in front of you and whisk the sand away." Taichi said. Hikari noticed that Taichi had a curious look in his eyes, something that told her his brother was on to something. Koushiro gasped and Hikari looked back at him. There buried in the sands, was his laptop.

"H-how did you know it was here? And how did you even know that our devices were here in the first place?" Koushiro demanded an answer.

"Melody was looking for an item in a specific location from where she stood. I assumed that she recreated the layout of our living room and placed her items where she put them before we got here." Taichi started explaining.

"Also noticing her phone was still in her hand-" she pointed to Sora, "I had the assumption that our devices could still be with us even after the transport. And since not all of the items we have are here, like my necklace or Mimi's bracelet-" she pointed at Mimi's wrist, "then only the items that we considered are important were brought along with us." Melody finished explaining.

That moment, Taichi realized he had taken something from his bed before leaving to bring Melody to their house, his whistle. He put his hand in his left pocket and felt the cold of the copper hit his skin.

"No wonder you bare the crest of knowledge!" spoke Sora as the others nodded in approval. Melody scratched her head and try to brush it off by saying, "No, no! This is nothing! I just have a fight or flight reflex for my things. Can't be too careful, I say."

Inori looked at her worried and noticed something in her surroundings and her eyes opened wide. She looked around and found her coat was on the ground behind them. Wearing it, she felt relieved. Taichi noticed this from her peripherals and gasped.

"So, where should we go now? We can't stay here for long." Yamato said after clearing his throat.

"He's right." Koushiro said gripping his laptop tightly. "Any longer here and we could all end up being dehydrated." he continued.

"I supposed it wouldn't hurt to start walking." Takeru said looking around. "There isn't any railroad tracks so that means that there aren't any near residences for digimons here, am I right?" he asked looking at Koushiro.

"From what we experienced when we traveled here in the digital world, that's a huge possibility." he spoke, but upon noticing that Taichi and Melody had started talking in private, he looked slightly annoyed.

"So, where to?" Hikari asked. Taichi and Melody looked at Hikari and Koushiro spoke.

"Survival rules followed in the real world are often followed by the Digital World. And in almost all cases, we always follow north." he concluded abruptly.

"However, Koushiro." Taichi said blocking off Melody who was about to talk to him. He looked at Koushiro. For a split second, a look of spite had locked his features in place but faded away when he heard Taichi speak.

"We are solving the wrong problem here." he said.

"Hold on, what do you mean Taichi? We always go north, we've done it before!" Koushiro exclaimed now looking more annoyed. Melody kept quiet from behind.

"Hasn't anyone noticed it yet?" Taichi exclaimed. "The digital world is in a frozen state!"

Everyone fell quiet. They looked at Taichi confused and some even doubted his conclusion.

"Taichi, maybe you're just tired. You should sit this one out, and considering what happened earlier, you shouldn't be giving out these kinds of theories in the first place. In any case, we should head-" Koushiro brushed Taichi's assumptions completely but was cut off.

"No, listen." Taichi spoke in a deep and threatening voice that caught everyone off guard. His expression was angry and his pupils were pin sized.

"I don't like how you're acting right now. Everyone shut up and listen." Taichi said coldly. Koushiro dropped to the sand and looked at Taichi completely scared.

"Hey, Taichi… calm down." Jou spoke quietly.

"Tell me, Jou." Taichi spoke.

"What?" responded Jou.

"How hot do you think it is right now?"

"How hot?" Jou thought for a moment and froze.

"H-hey… Jou, are you alright?" Ken and Miyako asked all of a sudden.

"Do you get it Jou?" Jou nodded.

"What do you mean Tai-" Melody gasped and backed away from Taichi. Yamato thought for a moment and froze in his place. Koushiro, still scared of Taichi gave his theory a shot and, his expression showed complete and utter shame. Once Taichi saw this, he looked to Hikari and the rest. He asked them a four worded question, "Why is it cold?"

"Taichi is right…" Inori spoke. She said, gripping her jacket.

Everyone gasped and looked at their surroundings realizing something has been off.

"No one realized how cold it was except for Inori." Taichi said pointing at her. "She noticed the moment she started looking for her jacket."

"Eh!? You noticed that Taichi?" she asked not even seeing Taichi glance to her area earlier.

"I'm starting to hate this. What is up with everyone!? This is simple! You should have noticed from the moment we got here that there was a huge discrepancy with the Digital World!" Taichi shouted, now looking more mad.

"Why is it day when we were transported here at night… is what you want us to tell you right? Taichi?" Melody spoke. This time, a lot more timid.

"Finally someone got it…" he responded relieved. His head had been pounding since they got there and with all the things he had observed from the chosen children, he was out of fuel. He sat down and took deep breaths.

"Something has been wrong this whole time." He spoke a little calmer now. "No one even noticed how the clouds in the sky weren't moving or how the sun is at it's peak and yet we don't even feel any burning sensation from the heat."

Everyone except Koushiro looked at him bewildered. It was as if they knew he was lying as he pointed towards the sun above them.

The annoyance inside Koushiro grew to hate as he looked at Taichi and yelled, "WELL IF YOU TWO ARE SO SMART, WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO IN THE BEGINNING!? JUST TO SHOW OFF!?"

"Koushiro!" Mimi yelled in protest. He snapped out of his rage and looked at all of them, confused.

"It's true! If Taichi knew from the beginning that there was something wrong, he should have just told us! Instead of leading us to this little goose chase. And if Inori knew that before him, why didn't she say anything!?" Koushiro exclaimed.

"Koushiro…" Taichi said, having a headache from all the screaming.

"And Melody! If you're so smart, why didn't you just spit it all out, instead of making Taichi speak for your sake! It's obviously you who made that theory when you two were conversing alone!"

"Koushiro…" Taichi was about to get up to stop Koushiro.

"Come on! She's obviously just showing off. Giving me that code, acting humble when she found her items, just because you're the crest of knowledge doesn't mean you all tha-" an echo of a slap was heard echoing throughout the desert.

"Melody?" Hikari looked at the one who slapped Koushiro.

"Shut up and listen to yourself!" Melody yelled at him.

"Showing off!? You think anyone would be toying around at this point in time!?" She continued, her red hair encompassing what she felt at that point.

"You have to understand something Koushiro." Inori spoke behind them.

"He didn't toy with anyone… Taichi was just helping everyone." She said, not looking directly at Koushiro.

"How!? How was that helping?" he questioned them.

"Koushiro, haven't you noticed it yet?" Taichi said standing up.

"Spit it out already!" Koushiro yelled.

"I can't!" Taichi yelled back.

"Your arrogance has been the problem this whole time!" he looked towards Melody and she held Koushiro's shoulder. Taichi walked towards them. Melody let go of Koushiro's shoulder the moment Taichi had grabbed it.

Koushiro found this odd. He looked at Taichi who was looking at him directly in… the nose. Why was he looking at him like that? There was no reason for him to toy around with him any further. So… why?

He then gasped. He had been forcing his own blindness this entire time.

"The desert was cold, even in the sun's peak. The clouds aren't moving… wha-!" Koushiro stared at the sky and noticed that there were not, in fact, any clouds in the sky.

"Taichi… you wouldn't tell such a lie to anyone knowing what you know. You saw the place first hand. You should know that there were no clouds in the sky… So why…" Taichi wanted to push Koushiro, but stopped abruptly.

"Unless… You knew that… And have been giving these hints to tell me…" Koushiro's surroundings started turning dark. The desert had started forming into a sea, a forest was forming behind him. That was when he knew.

"Why was it cold Koushiro?" Taichi asked him once again as he saw Koushiro's body forming in front of their eyes, as if he were invisible.

"No desert can be cold with those conditions… unless… we weren't in a desert…" Koushiro's surroundings changed completely. They were in the bus they had seen the first time they arrived in the digital world. Everyone was there looking at Koushiro. All of them stood exactly as they were when they were in the desert.

He sat down in a state of disappointment. Jow could he have missed any of that. Everyone solved the problem faster than him.

"I should have know… I was too full of myself to think that the desert was the only answer I didn't even bother to look at the other aspects… I'm… I'm sorry." Melody looked at him, worried. Taichi nudged her towards Kousiro and she looked at Taichi playfully unamused. She then realized why he did so and sat next to him.

"It's not your fault… That was the void." she said frankly.

"The void?" Koushiro looked at her.

"I wasn't mad at you for reasons being that you insulted me or anything… I was mad because… that's what happened when we were first tricked by it." Melody spoke calmly.

"This happened to you?" Koushiro asked, still sulking.

"Yes… I was so cocky when I found out I had the crest of knowledge. I scolded everyone, including Taichi. Believing I was the smartest, if anyone had their own theory, I would brush them off. I was more arrogant than you." she chuckled. "But then, we were stuck in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night. I told them to sail where the north star was, like you said, because that was the most logical thing to do. The one who snapped me out of it was… " Koushiro immediately thought that Taichi would have been her savior, but he was mistaken when Melody said, "Ibuka!"

"Ibuka?" Koushiro jumped at the name.

"Yeah, he noticed Inori complaining about the heat and saw that we were still in our campsite. Inori was always sensitive towards her surroundings. We were lucky she was with us. I remembered when Riku told me the reason, I was knocked out cold for days. It was almost as if the void planned this to happen to anyone who failed his task."

"Which is why Taichi couldn't tell anyone any direct answer… He had to make sure you found out on your own."

"I'm sorry I screamed at you…" Koushiro spoke calming down. "I was really foolish. I was jealous because you looked like you had all the answers. I felt like you were barging into my territory."

"It's no big deal. You should have seen Inori when she was challenged by the void." she spoke jokingly and saw Inori blushing behind them.

Everyone let out a chuckle. Koushiro smiled and looked at all of them.

"I'm not letting it get the best of me again! No matter what happens, I'm making sure he doesn't trick me, or any of us again! That's why I was this crest, not as a decoration to brag about… but as a duty to protect and help all of you." Yamato and the others sighed in relief seeing Koushiro back to normal. His computer beeped for a moment and opened the laptop. It was an email, from two devices near them. Melody looked at the laptop.

"Taichi!" Melody yelled moments before they heard something crashing from the forest nearby. Upon hearing Melody, he ran outside and looked at where the sound had come from when his heart sank to a million pieces.

There, burning just a few meters from them, was a plane.

END OF CHAPTER 7


End file.
